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SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Crown Prosecution Service
30. Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Solicitor-General how many cases have been successfully prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service in the last 12 months. [93421]
The Solicitor-General: In the year ending June 1999, the Crown Prosecution Service secured 975,003 convictions in magistrates courts and 69,299 convictions in the Crown Court. This amounts to 98.3 per cent. of cases proceeding to a hearing in the magistrates court and 88.7 per cent. of cases proceeding to a hearing in the Crown Court.
33. Valerie Davey: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement about the work of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate. [93424]
The Solicitor-General: The Chief Inspector is at present implementing the changes necessary to adapt the Inspectorate to the revised (42 Area) structure of the CPS and to give effect to the recommendation of the Glidewell Report that its remit should be widened. These changes will include, at the specific request of my right hon. noble and learned Friend the Attorney-General, the introduction of a substantial lay element in the inspection process. In addition, the Government are already committed to legislation to place the CPS Inspectorate, which is at present internal, on an independent statutory basis.
Mr. Berry:
To ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement on the implementation of the restructuring of the Crown Prosecution Service areas. [93419]
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The Solicitor-General:
The restructuring of the CPS into 42 areas was implemented on 1 April 1999. Chief Crown Prosecutors are now preparing outline plans for the implementation of further structural changes as recommended in the Glidewell report. These will involve the creation of new Criminal Justice Units and Trial Units.
Mr. McCabe:
To ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement on the recent visits by the Law Officers to branches of the Crown Prosecution Service. [93420]
The Solicitor-General:
Since taking office last summer I have visited 16 CPS areas throughout England and Wales, as well as CPS Headquarters and CPS Inspectorate. The Attorney-General has visited four areas since taking up the post and has another three visits planned. I have another seven visits planned this year and by next summer I anticipate I will have visited all CPS areas. The visits have given me a valuable insight into the workings of the CPS and how the Glidewell and Narey initiatives are being taken forward.
I have met many Higher Court Advocates and I have been very impressed. The Higher Court Advocates seem to have been accepted well by the judiciary and the local Bar. They have had many years' experience of prosecuting in the magistrates' court and so are well equipped to meet the demands of higher court advocacy. Changes in the Access to Justice Bill allow CPS staff who are barristers to join their colleagues in the Crown Court.
31. Mr. Robathan:
To ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement on the length of time young offenders have to wait between being charged and trial. [93422]
The Solicitor-General:
For young offenders' cases where not guilty pleas are entered, the average time from charge to start of the trial was 123 days in February 1999. For all cases in the youth court, the average period from charge to verdict was 67 days in February 1999, compared with 71 days in June 1998 and 81 days in June 1997. Information on the Crown court is not available as case progress information there does not distinguish adult from youth cases.
The Government are committed to reducing unnecessary delay in the youth justice system still further. Chief Crown Prosecutors throughout England and Wales are working closely with other agencies locally to ensure this is achieved.
32. Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Solicitor- General what recent representations he has received concerning the conduct of the Crown Prosecution Service in the case of Owen Oyston. [93423]
The Solicitor-General:
In August this year, the Attorney-General received a copy of a letter from my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Mr. Pendry) to the Secretary of State for the Home Department concerning the case of Owen Oyston.
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Mr. Michael J. Foster:
To ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement with regard to his role in relation to charities. [93418]
The Solicitor-General:
The Attorney-General's role in relation to charities is wide-ranging and of historic origins. The Attorney-General's function is to represent the Crown as parens patriae and so to act as protector, both of charity in general and of particular charities.
It falls to the Attorney-General to institute legal proceedings to protect a charity and to represent the charitable interest. The Attorney-General is a necessary party to any litigation in which the objects of a charity need to be separately represented, for example, where the interest of the Trustees do not coincide with the objects of the charity.
In addition, the Attorney-General has the power to authorise ex gratia payments from charitable funds on moral grounds where such payments might otherwise amount to breaches of trust. He also has the power, by derogation from the Sovereign, to give directions under the Sign Manual as to the re-distribution of uncertain charitable gifts under wills.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on the workings of the Enforcement Concordat. [94550]
Marjorie Mowlam:
The Enforcement Concordat sets out a blueprint for fair, practical and consistent enforcement. It has been developed in consultation with all the key stakeholders in the enforcement process. The Concordat policies and procedures therefore represent a consensus about best practice in regulatory enforcement. The Concordat provides a balanced approach to enforcement based on the philosophy that enforcers should work with businesses who wish to comply while at the same time taking firm action against those who deliberately flout the law or act irresponsibly. The organisations that have adopted it have provided a clear statement to business and others being regulated about what they can expect from enforcement officers. I commend the Enforcement Concordat to all local and central government enforcement officers.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what procedures are in place to measure the impact of the Enforcement Concordat. [94555]
Marjorie Mowlam:
The adoption, implementation and effectiveness of the Enforcement Concordat are all monitored.
The Cabinet Office keeps a record of all the authorities, agencies and other bodies that have adopted the Concordat. Individual implementation plans are sent to the Cabinet Office or the relevant local authority associations. Those plans should include arrangements for
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performance appraisal. The Concordat is still relatively new but, once arrangements have been operational for a year, individual annual reports will be submitted following which the Cabinet Office will review the Concordat's effectiveness. There should be sufficient data to begin the first review next spring.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what are the aims and objectives of the Enforcement Concordat. [94551]
Marjorie Mowlam:
The aims and objectives of the Enforcement Concordat are to achieve widespread adoption by both national and local enforcement bodies of simple, business-friendly enforcement procedures.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on the progress and achievements of the Regulatory Impact Unit. [94600]
Marjorie Mowlam:
The Regulatory Impact Unit (RIU) was launched in March this year. Since then it has introduced the scrutiny of regulatory proposals to ensure that their impact has been properly assessed. It has published the Guide to Better European Regulation and continues to promote the use of the Better Regulation Guide. It has agreed with Departments that they will include regulatory performance reports in their Annual Reports. It has launched, on the Cabinet Office website and on the intranet of other government departments, an IT based checklist for policymakers.
The RIU has supported the Better Regulation Task Force in the production of its reports, reviews and other activities.
The RIU has also consulted about reform of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. The Government intend to bring forward reforms when parliamentary time allows.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will list the responsibilities, aims and objectives of the Regulatory Impact Unit. [94601]
Marjorie Mowlam:
The RIU is part of the Cabinet Office and therefore shares its aims and objectives. In particular it plays a part in the Cabinet Office Public Service Agreement (PSA) to develop public services, programmes and regulation across the public sector which meet the needs of users and which are of a high quality, modern and well co-ordinated. Under the (PSA) it has been committed to introducing arrangements for the audit and evaluation of better government practice including the preparation of Regulatory Impact Assessments.
The RIU:
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helps Ministers and Departments find the right legislative balance to achieve proper standards of protection without unnecessary impact on business;
scrutinises regulatory proposals to ensure that they have been properly assessed in line with the best practice that it develops and circulates such as the Better Regulation Guide and the Guide to Better European Regulation;
works with other Member States and the European Commission to improve the quality of legislative proposals at the European level;
promotes the Enforcement Concordat;
operates the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 and develops proposals for its reform; and
supports the Better Regulation Task Force in the production of its reports, reviews and other activities.
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